De Soto National Memorial will be a host location for the Great Backyard Bird Count on Saturday, February 16th. We will start at 7:00 am and will continue until noon. This time frame should cover a very active time of the day.

The Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC) is an annual event that engages bird watchers of all ages in counting birds to create a real-time snapshot of where the birds are across the continent and in Hawaii. These numbers help to determine the health of a variety of bird populations. Anyone can participate, from beginning bird watchers to experts, it is free, fun, and easy, plus it helps the birds.

Participants will be allowed to pick a location within the Park and participate for 15 minutes or as long as they wish during the five-hour period and are not required to show up exactly at 7:00 am. They will record species and numbers counted. We will collect all our findings and the information will be added to an online checklist on the GBBC web site.

Participants will be able to go on line to see what has been reported from the Park or anywhere in the United States and Canada. Participants may also send in photographs of the birds they see.

This will be our third time hosting a GBBC here at De Soto and a great opportunity to discover the natural history of our Park as well as visiting our Living History programs which will be in progress at this time. This should be an attractive event for bird watchers and photographers alike. Quality photos have the possibility of being posted on a National web site for all to see. Participants should bring their own binoculars and a folding lawn chair.